Blog

Written By: Nadine Smith, Executive Director of Equality Florida
If you’ve never travelled to Tallahassee to lobby for LGBTQ equality, this is the year to show up and call on leaders to include our community as equals in the state’s civil rights statute.

Equality Florida is proud to announce our Spring 2019 Intern Cohort! We have representation from all over the state, including Gainesville, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Lakeland, and Tampa Bay! Learn more about our interns and help us welcome them to the team!

Fort Lauderdale — This week President Trump announced a goal of ending HIV transmissions in the U.S. by 2030. For HIV advocates around the country, eradicating HIV has been a viable goal for years since we now have the tools to stop transmissions. Unfortunately, standing in the way of HIV advocates — and now the Trump-Pence administration — is the administration itself. Since taking office, this administration has made headlines in the HIV field for harmful policies directly contradicting the President’s recent hopeful statement.

On January 24, 2019, the Human Rights Campaign, National LGBTQ Task Force, National Center for Lesbian Rights, the ACLU of Florida, the National Center for Transgender Equality, QLatinX, Florida Trans Proud, TransAction Florida, and Equality Florida released the following statement in support of nondiscrimination protections in housing, employment, and public accommodations. The organizations reaffirm their support for fully-inclusive, comprehensive protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

January 22, 2019 — Today the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order allowing the Trump administration’s transgender military ban to go into effect temporarily while challenges to the policy continue in federal courts.
Equality Florida Director of Transgender Equality Gina Duncan issued the following statement in response:

Tallahassee, FL -- Today Equality Florida’s TransAction Network hosted a vigil in the Florida State Capitol to recognize Transgender Day of Remembrance and Visibility. The TransAction Network joins thousands around the world and across Florida to mourn transgender and gender non-conforming lives taken due to transphobia and trans-related violence.

TALLAHASSEE — As Amazon announced locations for its new headquarters today, reports emerged that Florida’s bid was harmed by the state’s lack of LGBTQ protections.
USA Today analyzed the weaknesses of cities that did not make the cut, including Miami. The article reported, “While it's an excellent gateway to Latin America and already an international business hub, it has an underdeveloped rapid transit system and the nation's fifth-worst traffic, according to INRIX. Florida also doesn't have protections for lesbian and gay workers.”

URGENT: Ensure your provisional ballot gets counted!
Did you vote by provisional ballot on Tuesday? If yes, you may need to take extra steps to make sure your vote is counted! Call your county supervisor ASAP to confirm your vote counts. The deadline for this is 5:00PM TODAY, Thursday, November 8, 2018. Call 866-OUR-VOTE if you think your ballot was wrongly rejected or has a related problem.

‘Rainbow Wave’ Hits in Florida and Nationwide
Midterm delivers game-changing victories
Tallahassee, FL -- An unmistakable Rainbow Wave has brought key victories across Florida and nationwide.
Equality Florida celebrates the record number of LGBTQ victories in an election that put pro-equality Democrats in control of the US House and brought a record number of barrier-breaking victories for women, people of color, and LGBTQ candidates.

Equality Florida Challenges Rick Scott's Broken Promise on LGBT Protections
Seeks Rule To End Discrimination in State Employment
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Equality Florida has filed a petition to compel the Governor Rick Scott administration to establish the LGBT protections that the Governor’s staff committed to but has failed to enact for more than two years. Now, time is running out for Governor Scott to keep his promise to end anti-LGBT discrimination in state employment.